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"Fastlane" is an entrepreneur discussion forum based on The Unscripted Entrepreneurial Framework (TUNEF) outlined in the two best-selling books by MJ DeMarco (The Millionaire Fastlane and UNSCRIPTED™). From multimillionaires to digital nomads, the forum features real entrepreneurs creating real businesses.

I have started three different companies in three different industries with total sales of nine figures. I retired about a year ago, while in my late 30's. I have come to the conclusion that retirement can be very boring, and I have decided to start another company in a yet to be determined industy. As always, I will have a 2-5 year exit strategy depending on the business.

Hopefully, I will be able to contribute to this site while making some new friends and contacts at the same time.

Money doesnâ€™t make you happy. I now have $50 million but I was just as happy when I had $48 million. - Arnold Schwarzenegger

Any ideas on the new business? Can you give an overview of your prior businesses (without endangering your personal privacy [retail? online? Service?). I know you mentioned that your last company had a gazillion employees.

Warning to all: Peter has a vast library of cat pictures that is sure to amuse.

What if life wasn't just about paying bills and then dying?Burn life's SCRIPT and learn how to build a business that pays more than money; it pays freedom.Unscripted: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship-----------------------------------------------------
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Any ideas on the new business? Can you give an overview of your prior businesses (without endangering your personal privacy [retail? online? Service?). I know you mentioned that your last company had a gazillion employees.

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Thanks for the welcome everyone. My businesses have all sold a product, and one of the businesses included servicing that product as well. The different products where sold mainly through a network of salespeople. One company was doing business in Florida only, and one had sales people in 49 states. I did not do business in Alaska. The third company sold the products via infomercials.

I had a lot of employees, because I have always believed in doing as much as I can in house. I handled all the direct mail, inluding printing in house. Of course I had a customer service department, accounting department, inbound and outbound phone department, shipping and warehouse, sales trainers, recruiters, managers, IT guys, payroll people, etc.

I don't know yet what kind of business I will start. I have around 150+ different ideas written down that I am currently looking in to. I always keep a recorder or pen and paper next to me at all times. You never know when you get a great idea. For me, it often happens while in bed, about to fall asleep.

Money doesnâ€™t make you happy. I now have $50 million but I was just as happy when I had $48 million. - Arnold Schwarzenegger

welcome peter, glad to be able to discuss topics with people at your level of experience! Look forward to it very much! PS- I generate great thoughts right before I go to sleep as well which always make for an interesting day the next day!

Peter, you mentioned having 150+ ideas written down. Very impressive! How do you then proceed to filter those, what are the steps to take to narrow it down to something viable that you'd be interested dedicating a lot of time to?

Success is never final and failure never fatal. It's courage that counts.

Peter, you mentioned having 150+ ideas written down. Very impressive! How do you then proceed to filter those, what are the steps to take to narrow it down to something viable that you'd be interested dedicating a lot of time to?

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I will let you know when I do it.

Basically, it will come down to a couple of different things that I would look at.

Is this something that is morally right?

Is there a market for this?

Will I enjoy doing this?

Is it easy to scale this business?

What are the profit margins?

These are just some of the things I will look at.

Money doesnâ€™t make you happy. I now have $50 million but I was just as happy when I had $48 million. - Arnold Schwarzenegger

Thanks. What types of factors are indications of being able to do this?

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If you have to open manufacturing facilities and distribution centers for example, it would probably cost much more money than you profit from your business. It would take many years before you break even and start making a profit.

Lets say you have a car repair company, and you want to scale that business. It's not an easy thing to do since you have to open up new facilities, buy new equipment and tools and hire and train new people at every new location.

If you have a company that sells information on the internet, it's much easier to scale, since it will require mostly increased advertising.

Money doesnâ€™t make you happy. I now have $50 million but I was just as happy when I had $48 million. - Arnold Schwarzenegger

If you have to open manufacturing facilities and distribution centers for example, it would probably cost much more money than you profit from your business. It would take many years before you break even and start making a profit.

Lets say you have a car repair company, and you want to scale that business. It's not an easy thing to do since you have to open up new facilities, buy new equipment and tools and hire and train new people at every new location.

If you have a company that sells information on the internet, it's much easier to scale, since it will require mostly increased advertising.

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Thanks for the explanation. Great info! Rep+++

Is this essentially the economies of scale of a particular business or industry? Sounds awfully similar to what we discuss when referring to economies of scale during my Economics class.

Wow Peter, you seem like a very successful man. I can only assume that retirement can get extremely boring. I think when most people say they "want to retire by age --," they actually mean they want to be financially free by that certain age and not neccessarily stop working or creating business ventures.

I too carry around a notebook with me. When I make an entry I write the date at the top and then I just ramble on with my ideas. Sometimes I write the goals that I have for this week and other times I write goals that I have for the coming months. Before I carried around a notebook I came up with ideas but then forgot about them and eventually lost them for good. Definitely keep the entire forum posted on whatever your new venture may be.

Peter2, I can relate a lot to your thing with coming up with ideas. For me they just come whenever I don't want to have them coming. I can sit at a dinner party with friends or any other social gathering and the ideas will just materialise in my head like pictures/movies. Very disturbing especially when people try to connect with you and try to find a conversation with you. I guess they see me as some kind of an Autistic guy at this point...hehe.

What I have found with people who start companies, those I have met in person at least, is that they are incredible with coming up with unique solutions to situations, products, services etc. It's like an ongoing machine in there (in their heads). I guess one of the main cores to have when starting businesses is: fast thinking. And of course the ability to analyse quickly. The most dynamic phase of a company is the start-up phase as you know. Everything moves quickly and boldly forward, every day. Very interesting indeed.

By the way, you mentioned that you had sold 3 companies. Good job. I have set a date when I will sell my financial company (the one I am working on now). The date is May 1st 2009. I think it is time to wrap things up and start that beverage company I had in mind.

Anyone heard of "Honey flavoured Green Tea"? That's my new venture in 2009. I have had discussions with a Chinese manufacturer for 2 weeks now and they seem to be very professional and easy going to deal with. Flexible with my bottle design demands too. I have teamed up with a swedish product design company as well (I know the CEO of the company since before so it was a natural partner to team up with on this).

Well, just wanted to welcome you on board as well (even though it was a while this thread was written). I have missed it before, but found it tonight. Very inspiring to read.

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The Fastlane Forum is an entrepreneur discussion forum based on the UNSCRIPTED® Entrepreneurial Framework outlined in the best-selling books The Millionaire Fastlane (2011) and UNSCRIPTED (2017).Learn More